ST. MORITZ.- CfC St. Moritz has announced a two-part charity art auction hosted in partnership with UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Christie's to benefit Giga. The two-part auction will take place in January 2024 with a live auction held on January 11, 2024, during CfC St. Moritz, and an online auction hosted by Christie's 3.0 and curated by Nina Roehrs (Roehrs & Boetsch) from January 24 – 31, 2024. The two auctions will be united under the theme "Creating Connections – Digital Art for Connectivity" and will be held to jointly support Giga, a UNICEF and International Telecom Union (ITU) initiative to connect every school and student to the Internet and information.

The first auction takes place live on January 11, 2024, on the second day of the CfC St. Moritz conference at the Suvretta House St. Moritz. It features three bespoke pieces from acclaimed contemporary artist Cole Sternberg, who is the visualist for Giga’s forthcoming NFT2.0 initiative. The second auction, online and on-chain, will be facilitated by renowned global auction house Christie's and will feature a curated selection of artworks by Nina Roehrs from around 20 donating digital artists, including a 1/1 generative digital work by Cole Sternberg. It will run from January 24–31, 2024.

Chris Fabian, Co-Founder of Giga, said: “The long-term collaboration we have established with CfC St. Moritz provides Giga and UNICEF with much-needed access to new industries. The two auctions are a great opportunity to put a spotlight on the work we do with Giga, but the partnership goes even further, as we connect on specific initiatives and the CfC St. Moritz provides us with introductions to people and institutions able to support Giga, especially as we build our global headquarters here in Switzerland.”

Nicolo Stoehr, CEO of the CfC St. Moritz added: “Since the start of our collaboration in 2022, the mission of Giga to connect every school to the internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice, has been dear to our hearts. With a platform like ours, which has education and information at its center, we want to use the opportunity to take impactful action to support that mission.”

Live Auction at CfC St. Moritz, featuring artwork by Cole Sternberg

On the second day of the exclusive investor conference CfC St. Moritz, conference participants and additional invited guests will have the opportunity to participate in the “Creating Connections – Digital Art for Connectivity” auction taking place at the Suvretta House. Hosted by CfC St. Moritz, Bertold Mueller, Delegate of UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Managing Director of Christie’s EMEA will auction three bespoke art pieces by Cole Sternberg, inspired by Switzerland’s Engadin region to benefit Giga. Sternberg is a California-based contemporary conceptual artist known for his thought-provoking and socially conscious artworks. The artist will be present for both the auction itself and a lunch roundtable of his practice.

In September 2023, Sternberg traveled to the Engadin to capture visuals using a vintage 1970s Canon 35mm camera, a notebook, and a laptop. Each piece is prefaced by that journey as well as the history of the region. In a traditional painting, a standalone NFT, and an art piece merging physical media with digital art forms, Sternberg narrates a compelling story, spanning from glacial threats to Vaslav Nijinsky's final dance. The works developed by Sternberg for both the live and online auctions artfully weave together and coalesce into a sublime ode to the natural beauty of this special place.